Conferences and Exhibits Council RFP: 2006 EWRI Congress

The Conferences and Exhibits Council of EWRI is soliciting proposals to host and organize the annual World Water and Environmental Resources Congress for 2006. The Congress will rotate geographically through each of the four (4) ASCE zones (1-4-2-3) with Zone 3 selected for the 2006 conference. Four years prior to the event is the period of time necessary to negotiate cost effective rates at a conference hotel(s) and or convention center. The conference is typically held in late June. The conference city shall be located in ASCE Zone 3 (MN, WI, IA, MO, IL, ND, SD, NE, WY, CO, NM, OK, TX, KS, Mexico).

EWRI’s annual conference generally attracts 1,000 to 1,500 water resource professionals from across the United States and many foreign countries. The conference lasts four to five days, includes ten or more concurrent tracks, awards luncheons, workshops, exhibits, technical tours, short courses, and a spouses program.

The Proposal should include the following:

1. The proposed location city and state.
   
   
2. Available hotels and conference centers of sufficient size to accommodate this conference, taking into consideration the plenary sessions, breakout sessions, meal functions, exhibit area and associated committee meetings.
   
   
3. Estimated rate structures for the proposed facilities.
   
   
4. Proposed committee, including at a minimum, candidates for general conference chair, technical program chair and local arrangements chair.
   
   
5. The proposed conference dates, which must exclude the week of June 11-15, 2006.
   
   
6. The potential for local sponsorship.
   
   
7. Accessibility of national and international air travel, as well as local transportation.
   
   
8. Description of local attractions, including accessibility to the conference hotel.
   
   
9. Proposed theme for the conference.
   
   
10. Other supporting information.

Proposals shall be submitted in ten (10) copies by Tuesday, April 1, 2003 to Richard Voigt, Polaris Group Inc., 8200 Humboldt Avenue South, Suite 302, Bloomington, MN 55431-1433. Alternatively, an electronic version may be submitted to: rvoigt@polarisgroupinc.com.

After the proposals are evaluated, interviews may be held with up to the top three proposers. A final decision will be made by May 31, 2003.